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WDFW seeks comments on draft status report for yellow-billed cuckoos

Publishers Note - We are hearing from our readers that many times these attempts to include species on the endangered list are driven by other than just concerns for the species. We welcome your comments.

OLYMPIA – State Wildlife managers are seeking public input on their recommendation to list the yellow-billed cuckoo as an endangered species in Washington.

Written comments on the report and WDFW's recommendation can be submitted via email to TandEpubliccom@dfw.wa.gov or by mail to Hannah Anderson, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, 600 Capitol Way N., Olympia, WA 98501-1091.

WDFW staff members are tentatively scheduled to discuss the report and listing recommendation with the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission at its June meeting in Clarkston. The commission is a citizen panel appointed by the governor to set policy for WDFW. For meeting dates and times, check the commission webpage at http://wdfw.wa.gov/commission/.

Yellow-billed cuckoos are medium-sized birds with grayish-brown bodies, white underbellies and curved yellow bills. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service distinguished the cuckoos in western North America as separate from their eastern counterparts and listed the western population as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act in 2014. In Washington, cuckoos have been considered a candidate species for listing since 1991.

Only 680 to 1,025 breeding pairs of western yellow-billed cuckoos are estimated to range the western United States to northwest Mexico. Historical records suggest that the species once nested in at least six counties of western Washington – Whatcom, Skagit, King, Pierce, Grays Harbor, and Clark. Just 20 sightings of yellow-billed cuckoos have been documented in Washington since the 1950s and likely were of birds that were not nesting in the state.

Although unlikely, this species may still rarely breed in the state given the existence of cuckoo habitat, including riparian areas, brush and fir forests. Threats to western yellow-billed cuckoos include the loss of riparian habitats and possibly agricultural pesticide use.

Forty-three species of fish and Wildlife are listed for protection as state endangered, threatened or sensitive species.